


i'll take you to the sun (on a wing)

by Chimera Manticore (chimeramanticore)



Category: Shovel Knight
Genre: Homoerotic Sparring, M/M, Mutual Pining, prospecter - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 14:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21339928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chimeramanticore/pseuds/Chimera%20Manticore
Summary: Specter and Propeller Knight have been paired up by the Enchantress to train together for the day. They both end up crushing hard. Propeller is nowhere near subtle, Specter is repressing as hard as he can.
Relationships: Propeller Knight/Specter Knight
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	i'll take you to the sun (on a wing)

“Remind me why I’m here with you again?”

Propeller Knight sighed, standing up. The two were in the Lich Yard together, in a large, empty, yet secluded area. Red brimstone lined the area, raised up enough that they could sit on it. Specter remained sitting as Propeller began to pace.

“The Enchantress wants us training,” he explained. “We’re all in groups. You and I need to be practicing combat, Specter Knight.” Specter could swear he could hear the smile in Propeller Knight’s voice, even behind his helmet. He frowned, crossing his arms.

“I don’t see why I had to be paired up with you of all people,” he muttered.

“Ah, let’s see if I remember this right,” Propeller said. “Plague Knight and Tinker Knight were paired up to work on making new weapons for the rest of us, Mole and Polar are also doing combat, but were paired up based on their size, and King and Treasure were paired to work on tactical business. Something clearly far beyond me, of course.”

“You have an entire armada,” Specter said. Propeller Knight simply shrugged.

“And what I’ve learned from having one is that you never question orders,” he said. “My orders from the Enchantress said to work with you, dear Specter Knight. And  _ our  _ orders were to practice combat. Now are you going to join me or not?”

“...What happens if I don’t?”

“At the very least, I’ll feel unwanted,” Propeller said, feigning sadness. “And then I may… oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just have to report it to the Enchantress.”

“No,” Specter said, standing suddenly. Propeller Knight lowered his head slightly, and Specter could tell he was smiling again.

“Then come and stop me, Specter,” he said.

Specter Knight reached out, summoning his scythe. Propeller watched in near amusement as it materialized, and then pulled his rapier from its sheath. He waited for Specter to start towards him, then jumped just as he got close, switching on the propeller on his helmet to hover high above his sparring partner.

“Can’t reach me up here, can you?” He called. “Perhaps the Enchantress gave us an uneven match.” He laughed, and Specter grimaced. How could one laugh be so infuriating? So light and carefree, like he didn’t have anything in the world to worry about, like his heart was as light as the wind. Like his laugh was the wind.

“Shut up,” Specter growled. He jumped too, ignoring the pain in his knees as he did so, and started to float. He made his way up to Propeller’s height, and steadied himself.

“Oh! So you  _ can  _ fly!” Propeller exclaimed. “Amazing! How are you doing that?”

“Are we doing this in the air?” Specter said, ignoring him. “Because you should know that I still hold the same malice for you as I did when we first met. I will not hold back, Propeller Knight.”

“Ah, you didn’t hold back on that day either,” Propeller replied. “I could not expect you to hold back today regardless. Though know that I have no intention of holding back on you either.”

“Then shut up and fight me,” Specter spat.

Propeller Knight laughed again, that same maddening laugh, and dove towards Specter, rapier poised to strike. Specter raised his scythe in time to block the attack.

“Well done,” Propeller said. Specter became painfully aware of how close they were, their faces just inches apart. “Not good enough, though.”

“Wha-” Specter Knight couldn’t even get the word out before Propeller dropped down about a foot and swung his rapier around to hit Specter in the side, avoiding his attack at the same time. Specter lost his composure for a moment, tumbling to the side before regaining himself and steadying again. He tossed his scythe at Propeller, buying himself a few seconds to assess his wound while it twirled toward his opponent. It was a thin slash, it would be gone in a few hours at most. But still, this was proof that Propeller wasn’t exaggerating when he said he wouldn’t hold back. Specter himself said the same thing, but if the definition of not holding back was not hesitating to kill… he found Propeller Knight annoying, but wasn’t sure he wanted to kill him. Not anymore, at least. And what would the Enchantress say if she found out that one of her knights had killed another?

“Oh, Specter!” Propeller’s singsong call rang out, knocking him out of his thoughts. He looked up, and saw Propeller approaching quickly, swinging Specter’s own scythe above his head to attack.

“It’s not an axe, you cretin!” Specter yelled. He glanced down, seeing Propeller’s sword sheathed on his hip. As Propeller approached, Specter reached down and pulled the sword from its sheath, slashing Propeller Knight across his torso as he flew past Specter. Propeller cried out in surprise and pain, dropping the scythe. Specter watched as he clutched at the wound. Did he go too far? No, he thought, shaking his head. He said he wasn’t going to hold back.

“Specter, I…” Propeller Knight said. They were about ten feet apart, Propeller facing away from him. His voice was faint from here, but Specter heard it tremble ever so slightly. He’d hurt him. He sheathed the sword.

“Can we pause for a minute?” Propeller continued. “I- I think you may have…”

Specter Knight resummoned his scythe, keeping it in his hand, before cautiously approaching his opponent.

“What’s wrong?” He said, the question coming out more like a statement.

“I- I’m bleeding a lot,” Propeller Knight said, still facing away from him. “You cut pretty deep. Are you experienced with a sword?” He laughed, but it wasn’t the same laugh Specter was used to hearing. This laugh was less showy, less carefree. Like he finally he had nothing to prove and something to worry about.

“Not with a rapier,” Specter said. “Let me see that cut.” He moved to Propeller’s front. He saw red stain his partner’s typically green coat almost brown.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “Propeller Knight, I—”

Specter was cut off by a sharp stabbing pain. He looked down to find Propeller’s rapier lodged in his chest. Propeller must have snatched it from him while he was distracted over Propeller’s wound. He was smarter, and more importantly, stealthier than he’d made him out to be, but Specter had one other trick up his sleeve.

“It seems I was wrong about you, dear Specter Knight,” Propeller Knight said. “Perhaps we were evenly matched after—” Before he could finish, Specter vanished, reappearing behind Propeller. His scythe already held high above him, he swung it down, hitting Propeller Knight across the back and knocking him to the ground.

Specter lowered himself to the ground, standing a few feet behind Propeller. Propeller Knight laid still, face down on the ground for a few seconds before coughing and flipping himself over onto his back.

“You held back,” he said, his voice strained, not bothering to look up at Specter. “It’s not in the nature of a good warrior to hit with the back of the blade.” 

“Would you have rather I killed you?” Specter said, approaching Propeller. “Because I still definitely can.”

“Now, now,” Propeller said, laughing as he spoke, “there’s a fine line between not holding back and having no mercy.”

“I suppose,” Specter said, holding out a hand to help Propeller up. Propeller took his hand— and promptly kicked him in the stomach, hard enough to nearly flip him over completely. Specter landed on his back in front of Propeller, their heads next to each other. He coughed, the wind having been knocked out of him from the fall.

“...And I didn’t hold back,” Propeller said. He laughed once more, his old laugh starting to return. It was almost a whistle, now that Specter thought about it. Something so melodic, so… dare he say it, pretty. His laugh was, at least. Nothing else.

“I suppose you win, though,” Propeller continued. “You got more than a few good hits on me.”

Specter said nothing. He realized they were still holding hands— or rather, Propeller was still holding his wrist, and Specter was focused on that at the moment. But then Propeller pulled away, and the moment was over all too quickly.

“Tell me,” Propeller said, sitting up, “What made you decide to work for the Enchantress? You seem very loyal to her, do you two have a history?”

“I, uh…” Specter sat up too, turning to watch Propeller Knight take off his helmet. “...Something like that.”

“Are you two dating?”

“I—” Specter nearly choked on his own tongue. “ _ What? _ No, no- you’ve got it all wrong, I- I’m not... I don’t, uhh…”

“You’re not into women,” Propeller finished, turning to look at him expectantly. This was only the second time Specter had Propeller Knight’s face, the first being almost a year ago at this point. Things were different then, though. He was a different person back then, he wasn’t… Specter Knight. Propeller had no idea that the man he met once long ago was the same man he was forced to work with now, and Specter intended to keep it that way. But still, seeing his face again after so long reminded him of everything he felt when he first saw it. Contempt, mostly, but… other things, too. There was a softness to his face, a gentle naivete that said he still had hope for the world, somewhere. Specter had held that same hope once. But that was a different time, and he was a different person. He knew better now.

But somewhere deep inside of him, Specter wanted to protect that naivete in Propeller Knight. He was younger than him by a few years, and knowing what he knew about his childhood, was pretty sheltered most of his life. He didn’t know how cruel the world could be yet, and for some strange reason, Specter didn’t want him to know. He didn’t want to see that softness fade.

“...I…” Specter mumbled. “No, I’m… I’m not.”

“Then what sort of past  _ do  _ the two of you share?” Propeller asked. “Not to prod or anything.”

“We, uh… I don’t know if I should be talking about this, but I guess it’s safe to say that she’s… done me a favor in the past.” Specter blinked, confused. He didn’t mean to say that. What he really wanted to say was something like  _ she has dirt on me, she had blackmailed me, I had no choice but to join her. _ But what came out was very nearly a praise.

“What sort of favor?”

“She saved my life.”  _ She would have let me die otherwise. _

“Oh, well, I can imagine you two are pretty close then?”

“...Pretty close indeed.”  _ I’d kill her at the first given opportunity. _

Specter Knight clapped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from saying anything else, but forgot he still had his helmet on and ended up smacking it uselessly.

“Are you alright?” Propeller asked.

“I’m doing great,” he hissed, lowering his hand. That came out fine. Propeller just didn’t need to know now.

“I, uh…” Specter started again, choosing his words very carefully. “Before I joined the Enchantress, I had… lost a lot. She found me in a really desperate spot, and she offered me a, uh, solution, I guess you could say.”

“To join her? And she would help you?”

“Y-yeah.” Talking was somehow becoming harder. It almost felt like there was a weight on his chest, and every time he misspoke, every time his mouth corrected his brain, the weight got heavier. If he didn’t stop it, he feared it might crush him.

“If it weren’t for that offer, I’d—” Specter felt the weight constrict him further, but pushed through. “I’d be d-dead,” he finished. He cursed himself internally for stuttering.

“Oh, come now,” Propeller said. “You don’t need to be so dramatic. You’re self sufficient, are you not? You would have been able to persist.”

“I…” He felt almost too constricted to speak at all anymore, let alone try to tell Propeller the truth again. “Yeah,” he said, and felt the weight fall away.

“...Are you sure you’re alright?” Propeller asked again. “You seem like you’re having trouble breathing.”

“I’m fine,” Specter said.

“Are you sure? Maybe you should take off your mask.”

“ _ No, _ ” Specter snapped. “No. I can’t.”

"You  _ can't? _ " Propeller said. "What, is it glued to your face?"

"No," Specter grumbled. He sighed. "Look, Propeller. It's not a personal thing, I don't think bad of you or anything- especially not compared to some of the other knights in this damned Order. It's more of an… I guess you could say it's more of an insecurity of mine."

"Oh, please,” Propeller Knight said. “I promise you almost certainly look fine under there.”

“That’s not it,” Specter said. “It’s… how do I put this?” He sighed, trying to find a good way to start. “How much has the Enchantress told you about me, Propeller?”

“Uhh, well…” He took a second to think. “She mentioned something about how you were the lord of the undead and you had all these magical powers, raising an army of the dead, et cetera, et cetera…”

Specter couldn’t help but laugh a little. “She exaggerated,” he said. “I can raise the dead, but not exactly an  _ army… _ But that’s not my point, anyway. The point is, I’m undead, Propeller Knight. I am not what I once was. When I died, my appearance changed to reflect that, and I… it’s a great source of discomfort for me. I can’t accept how I look, I- I refuse to accept it, even. I refuse to—”

“—accept that you died?” Propeller finished. Specter blinked, taken aback.

“Th— Well…” He stuttered a few times, trying to find the words again. “Th- that’s one way to put it… I suppose.”

Propeller smiled at Specter, not a teasing smile or one of malice, one that felt gentle and kind and somehow understanding. Specter knew he could never understand fully, that he could never empathize, but… his smile was almost captivating. If his laugh was the wind, then his smile was a ray of sunlight.

“I think I’d like to get to know you better, Specter Knight,” Propeller said.

Specter laughed sharply. “No, you don’t. Don’t say that.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I mean that you don’t mean it. You’re just being a flirt.”

Propeller paused for a moment before speaking. "I don't know what you've heard about me," he said, his voice suddenly serious, "But I can assure you that I know all the rumors being spread about me. I know every single thing people think of me, and all the little rumors that have been twisted into misguided information and complete lies. I know you think I'm a flirt, Specter. I know you think I just want to use you and leave you. And I do not blame you for thinking that. How could I? Clearly that's not your opinion from spending time with me, because we've barely spent any time together at all. It's only the fault of rumors. It's poisoned your own opinion before you've even met me. But know this, Specter Knight. I have no intentions of using and leaving you at all. I asked that because I genuinely find you to be an interesting person. I can tell there's much, much more to you than meets the eye. And I would like to be able to perhaps dip my toes into your world, if you would have me. I hold no malicious intent whatsoever. I just want to know you." He spoke slowly and clearly, leaning in more to Specter as he progressed, and by the end they were mere inches from each other, Propeller's voice low and calm.

"You still don't want to know me," Specter said, his voice equally low. "My story is not a good one."

"...What are you afraid of, Specter Knight?" Propeller said.

"Wh- what?"

"Are you afraid I won't like what I find?" he continued. "Are you afraid I'll think bad of you? That I'll be scared of you? That I'll turn tail and run away? Leave you?"

Specter said nothing.

"You're not exactly a closed book, Specter Knight. I can tell just by the way you act, the way you talk, the way you're so desperate to push me away before even getting to know me. What is it exactly, then? Have you been abandoned before? Have you convinced yourself it was your fault? Have you convinced yourself you're a monster and unlovable and that you're just not worth the time? Have you convinced yourself you work better alone? Because I've learned that convincing yourself you're better off alone makes for the loneliest years of your life, Specter Knight. Especially when you know you don't mean it."

"...Get out of my face," Specter muttered. "I don't need to sit here and take this."

"But still you do," Propeller said, unmoving. "Look, I'm not here to rip through you, Specter."

"It sure seems like it."

"What I'm trying to say," Propeller said, "is that nothing you can tell me will faze me. If your story is a dark one, know that I have seen my fair share of dark things. I have no intentions of running away from you, Specter Knight. I just want to know you."

"And what if you don't like what you find out?"

"Then I'll stay. Because I may not know you well, but I do know that that may be what you need. Just for someone to stay and listen."

Specter said nothing. He didn't like how easily Propeller could see through him. Was he really this easily readable? Could the rest of the Order read him this easily as well? He didn't like that idea at all. But the offer Propeller made… just someone to stay…

"I do not know what it is that plagues you, Specter," Propeller Knight said, finally pulling back, "and I do not intend on prodding you for information. But like I've said, I would like to get to know you better. I find you very intriguing… in more ways than one, of course." He stood. "In any case, we are working together now. And I would like to meet you again in a non-work environment. Maybe we could meet on my ship next time? I'll give you the less dangerous version of a tour." He laughed, the same song of a laugh. Specter caught himself being captivated for only a second. He stood as well.

"I… may take you up on that," he said. Propeller smiled- gentle, kind, understanding.

"I definitely hope you do,” he said. “You’re always welcome there, so feel free to come by whenever. As for right now, though, I think now may be a good time for me to go tend to… all of this.” He gestured down at himself, still bleeding. While he may have been overexaggerating the severity of the cut, he had been bleeding for a while now with nothing other than his own jacket to stop it.

“A-about that,” Specter started, fully intending to apologize before being stopped by Propeller.

“Don’t worry about it at all,” he said. “I said not to hold back, did I not?” He chuckled, picking his helmet up off the ground. “You should return to the Tower and report back to the Enchantress for us. I’ll head back to my ship.”

“Right.”

Propeller approached Specter Knight, and before Specter could register what was happening, he bent down, took Specter’s hand, and kissed it.

“I hope to see you soon,” he said before putting his helmet back on. He switched it on and called as he flew away, “ _ À bientôt,  _ Specter Knight!”

Specter stood there, dazed, as he watched Propeller fly off. Even after he had disappeared over the walls of the Lich Yard, he stayed there, staring at the sky.

“...He called me intriguing,” he muttered to himself. “Intriguing. Huh.”


End file.
